


life after you.

by legally_blonde



Series: Jukebox Love Story [3]
Category: That '70s Show
Genre: F/M, Fix-It
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-15
Updated: 2020-05-15
Packaged: 2021-03-02 20:40:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,623
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24202999
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/legally_blonde/pseuds/legally_blonde
Summary: Hyde is ten miles from town & he just broke down.
Relationships: Jackie Burkhart/Steven Hyde
Series: Jukebox Love Story [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1728451
Comments: 2
Kudos: 49





	life after you.

**Life After You**

* * *

_Ten miles from town & I just broke down, spitting out smoke on the side of the road_

_I’m out here alone, just trying to get home_

_To tell you I was wrong, but you already know_

_Believe me, I won’t stop at nothing to see you, so I’ve started running_

* * *

“No, no, no,” he grumbled when the El Camino started to sputter and slow down. “Why are you doing this to me?”

Hyde was a few miles away from the hotel he drove away from, where his dreams and heart were left to die. He shook his head – that thought was way too Forman for him. Hyde doesn’t have dreams, he barely has a heart. He has his sunglasses, his weed, and his car. Well, the last one was debatable at the moment.

Hyde opened the hood and a ton of smoke and steam flew out and dissipated in the air. Well, he had two options: call a tow and go back to the hotel he just came from, or stay here until someone is willing to pick up a hitchhiker and leave the El Camino behind.

That second option didn’t sit well with him. Neither option sounded appealing, but leaving his car behind sounded horrible. He loved that car, he put in time and work on that car to make it better, to make it a good person. Damn it, he’s thinking of Jackie now. Didn’t he work with Jackie to make her a better person? Didn’t she do the same for him? Didn’t he love her? Didn’t she know that?

Maybe she didn’t, he thought as he slammed the hood down. He chuckled to himself. How could she know he loved her more than life itself? He cheated on her with a nurse, he dismissed her every time she mentioned marriage. Did he want to get married? No, not really. What man really wants to do that? Did he want to spend the rest of his life with Jackie? Yeah probably. She was a cool chick, the _best_ girl. His best girl – at least she used to be.

Maybe he should just leave it all behind and get in the car when the next one passes by. He could disappear, start fresh, try not to mess up anyone else’s life. He grabbed his stuff out of the car, patted the hood, and started walking down the road toward traffic. He saw headlights after a few minutes and put his hand out. This was his sign.

“Steven! There you are!”

“Jackie?” he said, completely shocked. “What the hell are you doing?”

“You have a lot of nerve to be asking me what I’m doing,” she shrieked. “Do you know how long I was driving to find you?”

“Uh, no,” he scratched his head. “How’d you know to go this way?”

“I didn’t, obviously. That’s why it took so long,” she huffed. “Why are you on the side of the road like a dirty hitchhiker?”

“Car broke down,” he mumbled as he got in the passenger seat. He did say he was going to get in the next car he saw. He’s not trying to fuck with the universe.

“Oh,” she said. “We can, uh, try to fix it? I think there’s some tools and jumper cables in the trunk.”

“Nah, just leave her. It’s a car, it doesn’t matter.”

“The car matters to you, Steven,” Jackie said sharply as she pulled up behind the El Camino. “Stop running away from the things that matter to you and leaving them behind when they deserve a chance.”

Hyde didn’t know what to say to that. He knew she wasn’t talking about the car anymore, not entirely anyway. She got out to grab the tools and flashlight and he noticed she was in pink fuzzy slippers.

“That’s a look,” Hyde commented as he took the tools from her and they walked over to the car.

“I didn’t have much time to change if I wanted to have a chance at catching up to you,” she said.

They worked in mostly silence. Jackie aiming the flashlight at the spots she thought could be fixed, and Hyde following her lead. It wasn’t comfortable, but it was better than nothing.

“I was wrong,” he said after a while, breaking the silence.

“I know,” she said quietly. “We can’t keep doing this.”

“I know.”

* * *

_Last time we talked, the night that I walked, burns like an iron in the back of my mind_

_I must have been high to say you and I weren’t meant to be & just wasting my time_

_Oh why did I ever doubt you, you know I would die here without you_

* * *

Hyde followed Jackie back to the hotel and up to her room. He thought about how he did this just a few hours ago and how quickly his life went to shit. Maybe this is his second chance to make the right choice. He just wished he knew what the right choice was. He hesitated outside when she opened the door.

“Kelso and I have separate rooms, Steven,” she said impatiently. “Doofus locked himself out of his room after taking a shower and deciding to go to the vending machines. I told him I needed ice and he grabbed it for me. You just always think the worst of me even though I’m not the one who’s cheated.”

“Burn, Jackie,” Hyde said dejectedly and she shrugged, moving aside to let him in the room. She sat down on the bed and looked at him expectantly. “So I guess this is when we talk?”

“ _We?_ No, I’ve said all I can say, Steven.”

“That’s shocking,” he joked, but stopped when she glared. “I don’t know what you want me to say.”

“Then I guess we’re done here,” she said with a small shrug. “I can’t put my heart on the line anymore just for you to crush it.”

“Jackie,” he said with a sigh, sitting in the edge of the bed. “We’re not even 20 yet. Marriage is a huge commitment, I wasn’t ready for a wedding. Look at Forman and Donna.”

“It wasn’t just about a wedding,” she said and caught the look on the face. “Okay sure, I would love to be in a wedding dress while I’m still young, thin, and beautiful. And yes, I want a big sparkly ring to show off to the fake bitches back home from LOPP. But more than that, I just want to know that you’re mine forever. I don’t want anyone else, Steven. I just want to know if you feel the same.”

“You know I do,” he said, but she shook her head ‘no’ and began to wipe at the tears falling from her eyes. “Please don’t cry, doll.”

He didn’t realize his inability to share his feelings affected her this bad. He was the worst, she deserved so much better than him. She laid her head in his lap as she cried, he began to rub her back soothingly. All he wanted was to be with her, to make her laugh, to tell her his conspiracy theories while they cuddled in bed. He wanted to be by her side always, as selfish as that may be. He started to think that if he’s going to be this selfish, the least he can do is make sure he knows how much he cares.

“Jackie, there is no other girl like you,” he said, running his hands through her hair. “There’s no other girl I could ever love the way I love you. When I get home from work, the first thing I want is you in my arms. When you come into the shop or the basement, my day gets so much better.”

“Really?” she asked, letting up a small hiccup as she turned to look at him.

“I’m sorry I’ve been such a shitty boyfriend. You deserve someone who will tell you everyday how perfect you are and how loved you are. It’s hard for me to do that, but I will try better. If you have me back.”

“What’s going to happen the next time you get all in your head and stop trusting me,” she asked.

“I don’t know,” he said and she frowned. “But I know I’m not giving you up without a fight, and we’ll make it work.”

“Okay,” she nodded. “You really hurt me, Steven.”

“I know, and I’m so sorry.”

“Why are you even here?” she asked after a while. She had been wondering all night what was so important for him to drive out here.

“I was going to say yes,” he said and she gasped, not expecting that answer. “Worked out well.”

“There’s definitely no wedding bells for us anytime soon,” she said as she played with his fingers.

“No, definitely not,” he said, leaning down to kiss her forehead. “But a wedding doesn’t change how much I love you.”

“I love you too,” she said.

* * *

“Jackie, the vending machine ate my change again,” Kelso said as he walked into her room the next morning, and stopping when he saw her sleeping next to Hyde, the two of them so wrapped up in each other like they were afraid to let go. He smiled as he shut her door, happy that his two best friends seemed to figure it out. He went to go back into his room, but realized that he locked himself out. Again. “Oh come on!”

* * *

_All that I’m after is a life full of laughter, as long as I’m laughing with you_

_& I think that all that still matters is love ever after_

_After the life we’ve been through_

_‘Cause I know there’s no life after you_

**Author's Note:**

> Song: Life After You - Daughtry
> 
> Hi all! Let me know what you think of this one :)


End file.
